Charities

Tailored support

Charities operate in an environment that demands increasing standards of governance and professionalism. The vast majority of our charity clients are corporate bodies, rather than traditional trusts - and they need legal support that is closely attuned to the nature of their organisation, and the context in which they work. What sets us apart from other charity law specialists is our ability to respond to the specific needs of each charitable organisation - and in a way that marries high quality technical expertise with a real empathy for the ethos and objectives of the organisation. 

We are able to provide support on charity law right across the board - from the formation of new charities and the setting-up of trading subsidiaries, through to complex mergers, consortia and joint ventures.  Our clients range from major national charities such as Epilepsy Scotland, to small voluntary health organisations.

Cutting-edge expertise

At Burness we handle around 50 new applications for charitable status each year. We are able to use our unrivalled knowledge and understanding to ensure that every application is tailored in a way that gives the best prospects for success. Another feature of our practice is close engagement with a large number of umbrella organisations within the charity sector, including Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. We’re very familiar with issues and concerns across the charity sector, so we can tailor our service - either on a sector-wide basis, through guidance notes and templates, or by giving advice to individual charity clients.

We are also closely involved in new developments in charity law. Stephen Phillips was part of the working group set up to advise the Scottish Government on the introduction of the new Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). He also serves on the Charity Law sub-committee of the Law Society of Scotland and regularly contributes to consultations on new developments in charity law.